


Missed Connections

by Steadfxst



Category: The Good Place (TV)
Genre: Angst, Bittersweet, Feelings, Gen, Memories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 06:04:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 394
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14206713
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Steadfxst/pseuds/Steadfxst
Summary: Eleanor sees a unfamiliar familiar face at the park.





	Missed Connections

Eleanor walks aimlessly through the park. She’s been trying to get out into the world more and learn to just exist around people again. She smiles at a family that passes her in the opposite direction. She even throws an errant ball back to a group of kids.

“It’s actually pretty nice,” she thinks, sipping on her coffee.

But then she sees him.

A man with white hair walks by, and her heart stops even though she has no idea why. She freezes in place on the park pathway.

“I know him,” she says with surprising vehemence.

Suddenly time speeds up, and she feels her feet start following him. He’s got some distance on her, so she moves faster. Why? Why does she want to catch up to him? Eleanor isfairly certain she doesn’t even know this man. 

She has to talk to him. 

She follows him out of the park, and she sees him cross the street with a few seconds left on the crosswalk timer. She’s stuck on the opposite side. His face is obscured by passing pedestrians and cars, and she curses her short stature; she can’t fucking see him. 

Eleanor jumps a few times, trying to get a good look at him. She catches one clear glimpse of him as he gets on the bus. The man looks up, and they lock eyes. It feels almost as though he knew she had been following him. Eleanor decides she’ll worry about being a creep later because she can actually see his face–for a split second. 

“It’s him! It’s him!” her heart shouts.

It is. It must be.

Then the door closes and the bus pulls away. The adrenaline coursing through her veins subsides. Eleanor feels herself deflate, and she’s very conscious now of all the people walking around her as though she were a stubborn rock in the middle of a river.

She feels wounded when she realizes she was probably never going to see him again. Why did that thought hurt so much? Why did she care? She doesn’t even know his name.

Eventually, she can’t even see the bus anymore. She sighs, turns around, and walks back into the park.

* * *

Michael watches her watch the bus pull away. That had been close. Too close. He’d have to be more careful about checking in on her from now on.


End file.
